Fuel-gage.



C. D. lfiNNEY. FUEL GAGE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17 19H! 7 1,295,037. Patented Feb.18,1919.

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the thread. on the stem '15 entra n CHARLES D. JENNEY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

FUEL-GAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Etch. 18 1212..

Application filed December 17, 1917. Serial No. 207,497.

i To all wit-011i it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES D. JnNNEY; a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Fuel-Gage, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a fuel gage which is reliable in operation, is inexpensive to.inanufacture, and may be mounted in the usual filling opening of a gasolene tank without obstructing such filling opening and as an insert between the opening and the cap.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gasolene gage embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is. a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 38 of Fig. 2; and Fig. i is a viewof the gasolene tank equipped with my gasolene gage.

The gasolene tank 10 is any usual tank, having at the top a screw-threaded filling neck 11 which ordinarily receives a cap or cover 12. In the arrangement shown, this cap has an external thread for engagement with an internal thread in the neck 11; though in some tanks this arrangement of threads is reversed, and my invention is applicable to either arrangement.

The gage head comprises a screw-threaded stem 15 the screw thread of which is like,

that of the cap 12, so that it may cofiperate with the thread in the neck 11.. As shown, is an external thread. Above the stem 15 the gage head has a filling opening 16 and a dial receptacle 1'? which are oppositely otiset from the stem 15. The filling opening 16 is threaded in the same way as is the filling neck 11 of the tank 10, herewith an internal thread, so as to cooperate with the cap 12. The dial receptacle 17 is something more than a half circle in plan, complementing the filling opening 16, and at the center this circle is provided with a bottom opening 18 passing through thickened portion 19 provided in the stem 15 below the junction of the filling opening "16 and the dial receptacle 17. An arc-shaped to dial 20, which may or may not be a separate piece from the bottom of the dial receptacle, is mounted in the bottom of the dial receptacle 17, with the hole 18 as its center, and is visible through a suitably supported cover stantially X-shaped bearing surface for engaging the walls of the hole so that lost motion in the hole is avoided. The free end of the finger 24: is slightly higher than the elbow end thereof, so that if the bottom of the tank 10 touches such elbow it will still. not interfere with the free turning of the lower end of the strip 23 in its bearing in the finger. A float 26, conveniently of cork, is mounted by two guide arms 2'? and 28 on the supporting rod 25, and the arm 28 has a forked projection 29 through the slot in which the twisted flat strip extends. As the float 26 moves along the supporting rod the fork 29 produces a turning movement of: the twisted fiat strip 23, thus moving the finger 22 over the dial 20 to indicate the height of the float 26 and therefore the level of the fuel in the tank 10. lhe twist in the strip 23 is sullicient so that thefinger 22 is moved from one end of the dial 20 to the other as the float 26 is moved. from one limit the stem 15 has a downwardly projecting shield. 30 between the twisted strip 23 and the opening through the stem 15.

#Vhen it is desired to install my gasolene gage, it is necessary only to remove the cover 12 from the neclrll, screw the stem 15 in place in the neck 11 with the strip 23 and the supporting rod 25 extending down into the tank 10, and then to screw the cap 12 into the filling opening 16 of the gage head. In order to fill the tank 10, the cap 12 is unscrewed and a tunnel inserted through the filling opening 16 of the stem 15, being prevented by the shield 30 from striking the twisted strip The float 26 rises and falls with the gasoleue level in the tank 10, and

moves the finger 22 correspondingly over the dial 20., The divisions of the dial 20 may or may not be uniform, and may be arranged to give any desired indication.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fuel gage insert, comprising a gage head having a screw-threaded stein for cooperating with the filling neck of a fuel tank, said gage head also having a filling opening and an indicator dial oppositely offset from said stem, said filling opening being screw-threaded to receive the cap which normally cooperates with said filling neck, an indicator finger movable over said dial, a vertically movable float supported from said gage head, means operated by the movements of said float for operating said indicator finger, and a protecting shield between said filling opening and the means for operating said indicator finger.

2, A fuel gage, comprising a stem arranged for mounting in the filling neck of a fuel tank, said stem having a filling opening through it, a supporting guide rod depending from said stem, a float slidably mounted on said guide rod, and a twisted flat strip rotatably mounted at its lower end on said guide rod and loosely extending at its upper end through the wall of said stem, the upper end of said twisted strip being provided with an indicator finger, and said float having a slotted portion at one side fitting over said twisted strip so as to produce turning of the strip as the float rises or falls.

7 3. A fuel gage, comprising a stem arranged for mounting in the filling neck of a fuel, tank, said stem having a filling opening through it, a supporting guide rod depending from said stem, a float slidably mounted on said guide rod, a twisted flat strip rotatably mounted at its lower end on said guide rod and loosely extending at its upper end through the wall of said stem, the upper end of said twisted strip being provided with an indicator finger, and said float having a slottedportion fitting over said twisted strip so as to produce turning of the strip as the float rises or falls, and a motecting shield depending from said stem between said twisted strip and said filling opening.

a. In a gage, the combination of a fitting engageable with the filling opening of a liquid-holding tank, said fitting having an opening therethrongh to permit the insertion of a filling nozzle, a guide depending from said fitting adjacent to one side of said opening, a float slidably connected to said guide, there being a slotted member attached to said float, a rotatable helical stem engaging the said slotted member, an indicator operable by said helical stem, and a shield extending downward from said fitting between.the said helical stem and the opening through said fitting.

ranges? 5. In a gage, the combination of a fitting engageable with the filling opening of a liquid-holding tank, said fitting having an openifig therethrough to permitfilling of said tank and a recess at one side of said opening, a guide rod attached to said fitting adjacent to one side of said opening, a retatable helical stem terminating in said recess and there provided with an integral indicator, a float, and a guide member attached to said float and slidably connected to said guide rod and having a slot engaging said helical stem at one side of said float.

('3. In a gage, the combination of a fitting engageable with the filling opening of a- 1 liquid-holding tank, said fitting having an opening therethrough to permit filling of said tank, a guide rod depending from said fitting adjacent to one side of said opening, a float, a rotatable helical stem pivotally supported at its lower end by said guide rod and having an indicator at its upper end, and a guide plate attached to said float and having a slidable connection with said guide rod and having an open ended slot engaging said helical stem.

7.1m a gage, the combination of a' fitting engageable with an opening in a liquidholding tank, said fitting having dial gradnations and a vertical guide hole extending through it, a rotatable helical stem formed from a flat metal strip extending through said hole and having an indicator co6perati ng with said dial graduations, a guide rod depending from said fitting and havlng its lower end shaped to form a pivotal bearing for said helical stem, a float, and a guide member attached to said float and having a slidable connection with said guide rod and also having a slot engaging said helical stem.

8. In a gage, the combination of a fitting engageable with the filling opening of a liquid-holding tank, said fitting having an opening therethrough to permit filling of said tank and a recess at one side of said opening, a rotatable helical stem having an indicator in said recess, a guide rod having an offset lower end shaped to form a pivotal bearingfor said helical stem, said bearing belng higher than the lowest point of said guide rod, a float, and a guide member attached to said float and slidably connected to said guide rod and having a slot engaging said helical stem of said float.

9. The combination of a fitting engageable with an opening in a liquid holding tank, said fitting having dial graduations and a vertical guide hole extending through it, a rotatable helical stem formed from" a flat metal strip extending through said/hole and having an indicator cooperating with said dial ,Q'I'HdUZItlOIlSySflld helical strip having gpproximately a rightangle twist with-' in said guide hole, a guide rod depending having guide maid guide rod from said fitting and pivotally sup orting 1 said helical stem at its lower end, and

members slidably engaging and a slotted member engaging said helical stem.

10. In a gage, ting engageable with the filling opening of a liquid holding tank and having an opening theret-hrough to permit the insertion of a filling nozzle, a guide rod depending from said fitting adjacent to one side of said opening, a rotatable helical stem having an indicator at its upper end, a float, a guide carried by said float having one member slidably engaging said guide rod and a slotted member engaging said spiral stem, and another guide carried by said float and engaging said guide rod at the end of said float the combination of a fitthe combination of a memdial graduations and hava In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this first day of December, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and seventeen.

CHARLES D. JENNEY. 

